Cover for cooler cabinets



March 10, 1942. H. D. KING 2,276,205

COVER FOR CGOLER ('JABINE'IS I Filed April 29, 1940- Patented Mar. 1o, 1942v COVER FOR COOLER CABINETS Harold D. King,

Medina,

Ohio, assignor to American Hard Rubber Company, New York,

N. Y., a corporation of New York` Application April 2 9, 1940, Serial No. 332,259

4 Claims.

The invention relates to an improvement in cooler cabinet covers, and more particularly to an improvement in such covers of the type provided with a hollow body adapted filled with an insulating material, such as ground cork.

These covers have heretofore been constructed in various ways. For example, it has been frequent practice to form the inner wall, the side walls and the outer wall of the hollow body of the cover of a plastic heat insulating material such as Bakelite or hard rubber, to form the bottom wall of sheet metal, detachably secured to the lower ends of the side and end Walls, and to form the top wall either of sheet metal or of the plastic material of which the side and end walls are composed. Since the cover is a hollow body into which the insulating material is introduced after the molding of suflicientparts of the cover to form a pocket, it is necessary that an opening be left in the cover through which the insulating material may be introduced, after which the opening is sealed. Heretofore the filling opening` has usually been made in either the top or bottom wall. The use of sheet metal for either the top or the bottom wall of the cover, or for both, entails structural diniculties in making an absolutely tight joint between the outer edges of the sheet metal plate and the adjacent parts of the molded side and end walls.

In the cases where the lling opening is in the top wall of the cover, which is afterwards closed by a metal plate, the joint between the outer edges of the plate and the adjacent edges of the opening in the cover must be leak-proof in order that the moisture-accumulating on the top of e the cover when in use may not leak down into the interior of the cover. The presence of liquid within the insulator-filled interior of the cover not only adds to the weight of the cover but also destroys'the insulating qualities of the ground cork or other insulating material. In the cases where the lling opening is in the bottom wall of the cover, it is a common practice to at.m tach the metal plate for closing the lling opening'by means of screws. By reason of the vibrations caused within the cover bythe frequent opening and closing of the cover to reach the contents of the cooler cabinet below the cover, the screws which fasten the metal plate to the side and end walls of the cover sometimes become loosened and fall into the contents of the cooler cabinet.

The object of the invention is to produce a cooler cabinet cover of such construction as completely to eliminate the disadvantages present in the prior cooler-cabinet cover structures of the above-described type. of this end, the top, bottom and side wallsand the outer endwall of the cover are molded integrally from a plastic material such as Bakelite or hard rubber. The filling opening through which the insulating material is granular or other form is introduced is made in the inner end wall of the cover. In this connection it will be understood that these cooler cabinet covers are usually made in two sections of substantially equal size and form, hinged together at their inner edges, and that the inner ends of the cover sections are termed the inner or hinge carrying Walls thereof. By molding the top, bottom, side and outer end walls integrally with each other, therebyforming a pocket adapted to receive the insulating material and leaving lthe inner end of the cover section open, an arrangement is provided whereby the core which forms the hollow interior of the cover may be conveniently removed lengthwise from the Vmolded cover. The cover'may then be turned up on its outer end and the insulating material introduced into the hollow interior of the cover, after which the inner wall bly be any leakage into the interior of the cover and the likelihood of the fastening means becoming loose and falling into the contents of the cooler cabinet is reduced t0 va negligible minimum of chance.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Fig. 1 is a top planview lof a two-section cooler cabinet cover embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verticalsection taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the inner end of one section of theimproved cover; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail View of the middle portion of Fig. 2 (but with the cover sections in angular relation), in order to show more clearly the nevel manner of attachment of the inner walls of ythe cover sections to the inner ends thereof.

. In its general top plan contour, the improved cooler cabinet cover of the present invention may be of any preferred form, that shown in Fig. 1 being in general use and comprising the cover sections 5 and 6 having a rounded outerend 1 To the accomplishment,

and transverse inner ends connected by means of a hinge generally indicated at'8, the mode of attaching the hinge to the cover sections being more fully described hereinafter. Since the two cover sections are identical in construction, the corresponding parts will be indicated by the same reference numerals. The top wall IIJ of each cover section, the side walls II, the outer end Wall l2 and the bottom wall I3 are molded integrally from Bakelite, hard rubber, or other heat insulating material and form a pocket I 4 adapted to be lled with ground cork I5 or a similar insulating material.

The inner or hinge carrying wall of section 5 of the improved cover is indicated at I'I and the inner wall of section 6 at I8. The outer face of each inner wall I'I4 and I8 of the cover sections is provided with outwardly projecting marginal ridges or beads I9 which t into a marginal recess at 28 formed in the inner ends of the top, the side and the bottom wall of each cover section. The upper ridge 2| takes up against the under edge of the overlapping flange 22 formed on the inner edge of the top cover walls I0, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4. The top end 24 of the inner face of each inner wall I1 and I8 is flush with the top surface of the cover sections 5 and 6. Lower down the inner faces of the inner walls I'I and I8 are provided with the bumper pads 25 of soft rubber. The inner walls II and I 8 are secured to the inner ends of the top wall I0, side walls I I and bottom wall I3 by means of the long, relatively large screws 28, which assures the unlikelihhod of the screws loosening and falling into the contents of the cooler cabinet.

The hinge for connecting the two sections of the cooler cabinet cover, generally indicated at 8, is composed of two strips 2'I and 28 extending transversely of the cooler cabinet sections and secured to the inner faces of the upper ends 24 of the inner walls II and I8. 'Ihese hinge strips 21 and 28 are conveniently composed of a non rusting metal and at their upper edges are joined together in the usual hinge construction indicated at 29. The hinge strips 21 and 2B are secured to the upper ends of the inner walls I'I and I8 by means of the upper row of screws used for securing the upper ends of the inner walls II and I8 to the upper cover walls I0. In order that no liquid may get into the-moving metal joint of the hinge and leek therethrough into the contents of the cooler cabinet below, transversely extending liquid deflectors or shoulders 3B, composed of soft rubber, are molded integrally with the upper ends 24 of the inner walls I'I and IB and lie along the outer surfaces of the upper ends of the hinge strips 21 and 28. It will be observed that the soft rubber liquid deflector shoulders 30 overlie the joint between the inner end of the top walls I8 of the cover sections 5 and 6 and the outer surfaces of the top ends of the removable inner cover walls I1 and I8, thereby preventing the seepage of moisture through these joints, as well v as into the hinge joint 29. As a result of this arrangement liquid is effectively prevented from entering the hollow cover sections 5 and 6.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a cooler cabinet structure having two covers hinged together at their inner ends, each cover comprising a top wall, an outer end wall, side walls, and a bottom wall molded integrally from a plastic material to constitute an openended pocket having its mouth at the inner hingecarrying end of the cover for receiving an insulating material, the free inner ends of the top wall, the side walls and the bottom wall surrounding the mouth of the pocket being recessed, a detachable wall the edges of one surface of which are provided with beads adapted to t into the recesses to close the pocket, and means for securing the detachable wall to the recessed free inner ends of the top wall, the side walls and the bottom wall.

2. In a cooler cabinet structure having two covers hinged together at their inner ends, each cover comprising a top wall, an outer end wall, side walls, and a bottom wall molded integrally from a plastic material to constitute an openended pocket having its mouth at the inner hingecarrying end of the cover for receiving an insulating material, the free inner ends of the top wall, the side walls and the bottom wall surrounding the mouth of the pocket being recessed, a detachable wall the edges of one surface of which are provided with beads adapted to t into the recesses to Close the pocket, a resilient liquid deflecting shoulder formed integrally with the upper edge of the detachable wall and extending transversely along one side of the hinge connection between the covers andcovering the joint between the upper end of the detachable wall and the adjacent inner end of the top wall of the cover, and means for securing the detachable wall to the recessed free inner ends of the top wall, the side walls, and the bottom wall.

3. In a Cooler cabinet structure having two covers hinged together at their inner ends, each cover comprising a top wall, an outer end wall, side walls, and a bottom wall molded integrally from a plastic material to constitute an openended pocket having its mouth at the inner hinge-carrying end of the cover for receiving an insulating material, an inner wall of plastic material removably secured to the free inner ends of the top, side and bottom walls to close the pocket, a liquid deflector formed integrally with the'upper end of the inner wall and extending transversely along one side of the hinge connection between the covers and overlying the joint between the outer surface of the upper end of the inner wall and the inner end of the top wall with the cover, and means for detachably securing the inner wall to the inner end of the cover.

4. In a cooler cabinet structure having two covers hinged together at their inner ends, each cover comprising a top wall, an outer end wall, side walls, and a bottom wall molded integrally from a plastic material to constitute an openended pocket having its mouth at the inner hinge-carrying end of the cover for receiving an insulating material, the free inner ends of the top wall the side walls and the bottom wall surrounding the mouth of the pocket being recessed,

a detachable wall the edges of one surface of which are provided with beads adapted to fit into the recesses to close the pocket, means for securing the detachable wall to the recessed free inner ends of the top wall, the side walls and the bottom wall, and means covering the joint between the outer surface of the upper end of the detachable wall and inner end of the top wall of the cover to prevent ingress of moisture into the interior of the cover.

HAROLD D. KING. 

